My Reading List

Alexander McCall Smith

No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

Boldly going where no woman has gone before, Precious Ramotswe is the very first female private detective in all of Botswana. Tactful, effective, and insightful detecting comes naturally to this very independent woman in this highly entertaining humorous cozy mystery series.

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (Jan 1998)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Working in Gaborone, Botswana, Precious Ramotswe investigates several local mysteries, including a search for a missing boy and the case of the clinic doctor with different personalities for different days of the week.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency,

Tears of the giraffe (Oct 2002)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Irrepressible sleuth Precious Ramotswe searches for a young man who vanished many years ago on the African plains, while dealing with her engagement to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, sudden and unexpected motherhood, and her recently promoted new assistant.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 2

Morality for beautiful girls (Nov 2002)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Precious Ramotswe investigates two very different cases–the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important government official, and the moral character of the finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 3

The Kalahari typing school for men (Apr 2003)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Now that the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is firmly established, founder Precious Ramotswe faces new challenges at home and at work–from problems with her adopted son to a sexist rival who is opening a detective agency across town.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 4

The full cupboard of life (Apr 2004)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Worrying about her upcoming marriage, Precious Ramotswe is confronted by the challenges of running her No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and an investigation into the would-be suitors of a wealthy woman to determine if any are fortune hunters.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 5

In the company of cheerful ladies (Apr 2005)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Precious Ramotswe finds herself overburdened at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and faces more complications when she finds a strange intruder in her house and a mysterious pumpkin in her yard.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 6

Blue shoes and happiness (Apr 2006)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Precious Ramotswe and her assistant, Grace Makutsi, investigate local advice columnist Aunty Emang, who may be linked to trouble at a local medical clinic and the cobra that somehow ended up in Precious’s office.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 7

Tea time for the traditionally built (Apr 2009)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Precious Ramotswe tries to recover her trusty white van after her husband sells it and replaces it with a characterless modern vehicle, while The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency tries to discover if a local football team’s games are fixed.
Series: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, 10

Isabel Dalhousie mysteries

Sunday philosophy club

(First book in series) The editor of “The Review of Applied Ethics” and a curious lover of puzzles, Isabel Dalhousie decides to investigate when she witnesses the fatal fall of a young man and discovers that he had been probing misdeeds at his brokerage firm.

The Sunday Philosophy Club (Sep 2004)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
The editor of “The Review of Applied Ethics” and a curious lover of puzzles, Isabel Dalhousie decides to investigate when she witnesses the fatal fall of a young man and discovers that he had been probing misdeeds at his brokerage firm.
Series: Isabel Dalhousie mysteries, 1

Friends, lovers, chocolate (Sep 2005)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Taking on the running of her niece’s deli while Cat is attending a wedding in Italy, Isabel Dalhousie encounters a recent heart transplant patient who is troubled by memories of events that never happened to him.
Series: Isabel Dalhousie mysteries, 2

The right attitude to rain (Sep 2006)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
When friends from Dallas arrive in Edinburgh and introduce Isabel to Tom Bruce, a bigwig at home in Texas, several confounding situations unfurl at once. Tom’s young fianc?ee’s roving eye leads Isabel to believe that money may be the root of her love forTom. But what, Isabel wonders, is the root of the interest Tom begins to show for Isabel herself? And she can’t forget about her niece, Cat, who’s busy falling for a man whom Isabel suspects of being an incorrigible mama’s boy. Of course Grace and Isabel’s friend Jamie counsel Isabel to stay out of all of it, but there are irresistible philosophical issues at stake, when to tell the truth and when to keep one’s mouth shut.
Series: Isabel Dalhousie mysteries, 3

The careful use of compliments: an Isabel Dalhousie novel (Aug 2007)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
In addition to being the nosiest and most sypathetic philosopher you are likely to meet, Isabel is now a mother. Charlies, her newborn son, presents her with a myriad wonders of a new life, and doting father Jamie presents her with an intriguing proposal: marriage. In the midst of all this, she receives a disturbing letter announcing that she has been ousted as editor of the Review of Applied Ethics by the ambitious Professor Dove. None of these things, however, in any way diminshes Isabel’s curiosity. And when she attends an art auction, she finds an irresistable puzzle: two paintings attributed to a now-deceased artist appear on the market at the same time, and both of them exhibit some unusual characteristics. Are these paintings forgeries? This proves to be sufficient fodder for Isabel’s inquisitiveness. So she begins an investigation… and soon finds herself diverging from her philosophical musings about fatherhood onto a path that leads her into the mysteries of the art world and the soul of an artist.
Series: Isabel Dalhousie mysteries, 4

The comforts of a muddy Saturday: an Isabel Dalhousie novel (Sep 2008)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Isabel Dalhousie comes to the aid of a renowned, much respected doctor whose reputation is at stake following the death of a patient because of allegations of scientific fraud in respect to a newly marketed drug.
Series: Isabel Dalhousie mysteries, 5

The finer points of sausage dogs (Dec 2004)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
When Professor Dr. Mortiz-Maria von Igelfeld of The Institute of Romance Philology is mistaken for a veterinarian, he ends up practicing veterinary medicine without a license, operating on a friend’s dachshund with unfortunate results; transports relics for a Coptic prelate; and is pursued by lovesick widows on a Mediterranean cruise ship. Original. 40,000 first printing.
Series: Portuguese irregular verbs series, 2

At the villa of reduced circumstances (Dec 2004)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
On sabbatical at Cambridge, Professor Dr. von Igelfeld becomes embroiled in a nasty case of academic intrigue and becomes caught up in skullduggery during his visit to Colombia, in a zany novel by the author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Original. 40,000 first printing.
Series: Portuguese irregular verbs series, 3

44 Scotland Street

44 Scotland Street (Jun 2005)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Pat rents a room from the handsome and cocky Bruce, at 44 Scotland Street, and discovers that she has also acquired some colorful new neighbors, including Domenica, an eccentric widow.
Series: 44 Scotland Street, 1

Espresso tales: the new 44 Scotland Street novel (Jul 2006)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
The sequel to 44 Scotland Street continues to follow the residents of the converted Edinburgh townhouse, as young Bertie prepares for kindergarten, former surveyor Bruce contemplates a new career, and Pat embarks on a new life at the university.
Series: 44 Scotland Street, 2

Love over Scotland (Nov 2007)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Domenica Macdonald heads off on an expedition to the Malacca Straits to study pirates, Angus Lordie’s dog Cyril is stolen, musical prodigy Bertie is left behind in Paris, and Pat finds herself torn between two very different men.
Series: 44 Scotland Street, 3

La’s orchestra saves the world (Oct 2009)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
A stand-alone work by the author of the Isabel Dalhousie series finds divorc?ee Lavender fleeing World War II London and organizing an amateur orchestra that includes a talented Polish refugee who rekindles long-buried feelings.

Heavenly date and other flirtations (Sep 2003)
By: McCall Smith, Alexander, 1948-
Journeying from Portugal, to Australia, to southern Africa and other exotic settings, this collection of short fiction explores a wide range of romantic encounters, in all their diverse forms.